New York!!!! Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, There's nothing you can’t do, Now you're in New York!!! These streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York
We're in the city of lights! And bright it is indeed, especially at Times Square where you wonder how much the electricity bill costs and how that amount of money could be spent elsewhere... Then again, just like at Rockefeller Center, and all the Christmas lighting... it's all about creating an atmosphere of holiday cheer in a time of economic gloom I guess. =P
Like Alicia Keys sings, "the lights will inspire you".
After a couple of days in quiet Boston (whoever said it was a big city is obviously lying), we're in a city that never stops, never sleeps, and never leaves you alone. The whole atmosphere of New York is really charged like how a city should be, teeming with people, it has a totally different atmosphere from just a city (if you think about it, Ann Arbor is technically a city too =P), it's a metropolitan and the economic center of America. Boston is so quiet! And dead in comparison. I'm not complaining about that but I guess that in the end, we're all city kids and living in a big city is what we're used to.^_^"
Once we're done exploring New York and absorbing all the good food that we can, it's off to Washington DC, then home in Ann Arbor.^_^ I'm kind of looking forward to sleeping endlessly and wasting my days away. Haha!
Anime, Manga, Dorama. I'm looking forward to that, and to eating more on this trip~ YAY!
cheers *[-witchstone-]*
[music : Empire State of Mind Jay-Z and Alicia Keys + Gackt] [mood : The Empire of Light / Waterlilies] [food : KUNJIP! =P]
After years of temptation and a final domino fall, I've decided to invest a lowly sum and bought a Diana model camera from the Lomographische people.
The effect you get from the camera is just fantastic! And it shoots on film so I'm all ready to head back to the age of the dinosaurs (digital photography is getting too photoshoppy for my liking, plus I suck at photoshop). Of course, I'll actually have to learn how to use the camera first. O__o It's not very difficult, because there are very few settings to fiddle with but since it is film, you'll never know what you're going to get and that, I think, is the most fun you get out of film! ^_^
Anyway, this is probably all brought on by the official end of my exams (yay!) since today was my last paper (Business Japanese). I got another prize for my presentation.^_^ I'm happy. Haha. Hopefully it'll be useful... All I have left of this semester is writing up the damned final psych project paper... Which is disgusting because I really dislike the class and making me run SPSS is just... the cherry on the very bad cake.xP Happily, I had an awesome semester otherwise.^_^ And an awesome winterbreak coming up. Hopefully...
To return to what I diverged from... After I placed my order (Free Shipping!) I received this email from the people at Lomographische~
We're seriously committed to making sure your Lomographic order arrives in the best possible condition. At the moment our holistic shipping experts are busy preparing your treasured cargo psychologically for the journey that lies ahead. After a bit of chanting and chakra balancing our packaging architects will set to work making your goods as comfortable as possible. Under the cover of darkness a no-messing security troop will escort your package to the post depot to ensure it departs without a sniff of trouble. It's at this point we release two pigeons of peace as a symbol of thanks for another successful shipment.
I love companies with a sense of humor.^_^
Which is why I also love Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and small companies around Ann Arbor like Zingerman's, By the Pound, and Great Harvest! ^_^ I went on a mini grocery shopping trip today and confirmed the love I have for Trader Joe's and Whole Foods when I could compare the experience I had there directly with the one at Meijer.X__X O my.
Time to look forward to lomography!
cheers *[-witchstone-]*
[music : Caresse sur L'Ocean + 魚 スピッツ] [mood : ^_^v] [food : Blue Potato Chips! + Avocado Cream Pasta~]
The sudden drop in temperature brought a big shock to everyone..O__O I guess the winter blizzard is finally making its rounds in Ann Arbor...? Nonetheless, the sudden drastic change in temperature was not very good for everyone because the strong winds are death. x__x Plus, without time to really adjust, it feels really cold...
With winter comes depression for many! And thus the title, winter angst. And this poem, I think, suits the current mood well.^_^
I Am
I am: yet what I am none cares or knows, My friends forsake me like a memory lost; I am the self-consumer of my woes, They rise and vanish in oblivious host, Like shades in love and death's oblivion lost; And yet I am! and live with shadows tost
Into the nothingness of scorn and noise, Into the living sea of waking dreams, Where there is neither sense of life nor joys, But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems; And e'en the dearest--that I loved the best-- Are strange--nay, rather stranger than the rest.
I long for scenes where man has never trod; A place where woman never smil'd or wept; There to abide with my creator, God, And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept: Untroubling and untroubled where I lie; The grass below--above the vaulted sky.
John Clare
The last day of classes is on Monday and then the exam period begins. I cannot wait for this entire semester to be over ^_^" Although I will miss Japanese literature. Writing literature papers is such fun! [Even if it does take a while to formulate a coherent analysis and argument...]
I just had my first exam of the 3 I have in total today... So before I really sit down to properly practice my presentation for tomorrow [in my defense, I did do up the powerpoint just now =P] and write my draft, I shall post about the huge bout of cooking I attempted last weekend!
Till now, I have no idea what possessed me to make so much food but... =X O well. I guess my friends benefited...? [Hopefully..]
First up... Something from my childhood!! Although in a much bigger size than what I remember... ^_^"
Sliced, warm, and fluffy with chocolate bits... It's banana cake ^_^ Using my aunt's fabulous recipe of variation-goodness, it's a little bite of childhood!
On a distinctly different note is Dorie Greenspan's Cream Scone recipe! ^_^ Filled with rum-infused raisins, it was crisp on the outside, crumbly and buttery on the inside, and made the perfect snack over the past few days!
I had made 2 huge batches you see... So that it would last longer and we could eat more. Haha! We just finished the last piece today and already, I want more... ;_; It wasn't as successful as when I made it the first time though... Possibly because I made such a big batch so I had to knead it more and it got a bit denser? In any case, I'll be making it again, hopefully achieving the glorious success I've had before ^_^
And because I had made it with such success previously, I tried to expand the repertoire a little by making 番薯雪耳龙眼白果糖水！[Sweet potato, snow fungus, longan, gingko nut dessert] I used the slow cooker so somehow the taste didn't come out like I wanted it to... X__X Sigh. I'll have to revert to using a pot in future...
And it's a terrible picture I know.. The light balance is totally off because I didn't have enough light and had to use my desktop lamp.. X__X
I also made chicken soup.^_^" And we feasted on leftovers from my friends' event for days... Time to go back to the books.;_; And the snow. And the wind. And the ... ice... ;_;
Today marks the true end of the course on positive psychology. However, I think my affinity with the subject has only just begun...
I haven't blogged much about my classes but if I thought there was one worth blogging about this semester, it has to be Positive Psychology.^_^ I really don't regret taking this class at all because it's really shown me a different side to psychology and living well.
Today was our last lecture in class - and like my professor liked to tell us, we started out with "The Last Lecture" (the inspiring speech by Randy Pausch) and ended with thoughts on the future of positive psychology.
I guess it's not so much that I didn't know all this already, but it's more about having theories, findings, and applications of this field to real life and how we can use positive psychology to deepen our lives and pursue our own happiness.
My professor ended off the lecture with these wishes for all his students (in other words, us):
- Have a pleasant life - Have an engaged life - Have a moral life - Have a deeply social life - Have a meaningful life
The thing I really like about positive psychology is that it is so unlike so many other classes that I've taken - the students are the same of course, since everyone is super concerned about the GPA and how they are doing in tests and assessments. But its the professor I think, that made a big difference in how I view this class and how I've come to enjoy it. His passion and interest in the subject field really made me interested in positive psychology as well, and how it can be so applicable to life because really, who doesn't want to have a better life filled with meaning and engagement?
People can be so caught up with the rat race - good grades, good jobs, good monetary returns ... and of course, there's nothing wrong with that at all but at the end of the day, what do we have? To quote my professor:
No one has a GPA on their tombstone And no one has a bank balance My favorite epitaph: "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives" (Jackie Robinson: 1919-1972)
It's the most practical of course, to want to lead a comfortable life and hold a good job and so on, but personal fulfillment and happiness is important too! "There are no such things as weaknesses, just lesser strengths". Now tell me, which part of that does not make you feel better about things?
It's all about framing isn't it. How you frame your life, how you frame your words, and how you frame what you want to believe in. Why not frame things to be happier? Why would you want to be miserable? Even gaining sympathy from other people doesn't make you happier, it's all just a state of mind.
Some favorite quotes of my professor: "So, what's our excuse?" "Other people matter." and of course, the five statements about the kind of life he wants us to lead.
I began to really dislike psychology when I had to take the disgusting research methods class, but I guess it was all fated in the end that I'm doing positive psychology at the same time - like and dislike balanced out, and I guess it's all turned out happy in the end.^_^
It's not been a walk in the park and of course, I still worry for the state of my GPA [oh how I worry X__X] but in the end it's not about grades or riches. Positive psychology helped reframe what psychology was for me, and for that I'm really grateful and all the more excited about psychology. I really wonder if I can apply all these great concepts and findings to whatever that comes may hold.
Being positive is definitely the way for the future.
My Emotible!
starry-eyed: filled with such youthful hope and optimism that one's eyes twinkle even when it's dark
Wish List
ie: motivation to save money!
- clothes
- shoes [heels! boots!]
- the perfect tote
- coats/outerwear! [Soïa & Kyo, Burberry...]
- Gackt - nine*nine
- Gackt Photobooks:
1 The Gift The Sixth Day & Seventh Night Tour Document (2004)
2 Crescent Photobook (out of print)
- Cookbooks!
1 Thomas Keller The French Laundry Cookbook
2 The Nobu Cookbook
3 Emily Luchetti A Passion for Desserts
4 Alice Medrich Pure Dessert
- Anime/Manga
1 Rurouni Kenshin
2 xxxHOLiC
3 Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- Proficiency at Japanese!
- Learn French for Food!
